Sepsis is a medical emergency. If you have sepsis, the treatment is usually given in the hospital and often in an intensive care unit.

Outlook

The prognosis depends on age, previous health history, how quickly the diagnosis is made and the organism causing the sepsis.

For elderly people with many illnesses or for those whose immune system is not working well because of illness or certain medications and sepsis is advanced, the death rate may be as high as 80%.

On the other hand, for healthy people with no prior illness, the death rate may be low, at around

The overall death rate from sepsis is approximately 40%. It is important to remember that the prognosis also depends on any delay to diagnosis and treatment. The earlier the treatment is started, the better the outcome will be.